This locus brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
… Indeed, good deeds do away with bad deeds…
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur employ God’s saying, “Indeed, good deeds do away with bad deeds,” in addressing harm done to others?
Shahrur employs the verse to urge the wrongdoer to follow their apology with a good deed toward the person they harmed, not to establish that good deeds automatically erase, in this world, the rights of those harmed or the effects of the wrongdoing.
Shahrur distinguishes between what results from a bad deed with regard to God’s right and what results from it with regard to the rights of others. He holds that the rights of those harmed in this world are addressed through the law according to the type of harm, or by seeking an apology where no legal penalty applies. After discussing apologizing to the person subjected to harm, Shahrur cites Hud 114 to say that following the apology with a good deed toward the harmed person is better.
Evidence and Location
Islam and Faith — p. 107.
Limits of the Reading
- This is a record of Shahrur’s reading in the available evidence, not a statement of the meaning of the verse according to other exegetes.
- The evidence does not establish that every bad deed is removed by good conduct, nor that good conduct automatically compensates for legal or personal rights.
- In the context of the evidence, Shahrur links the expiation of bad deeds to the reckoning in the Hereafter, while reserving his discussion of this-worldly matters for the law, apology, and then good conduct.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
The verse is employed to affirm that practical good conduct repairs and erases the effect of a bad deed in this world.
Axes
- Human and ethical
- Legislative
Related Concepts
- Good conduct: 2
- Erasure of bad deeds: 2
- Repairing the effect: 1
- Apology: 1
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to balancing error and repair in human conduct.
Role of the Verse in the Argument
- Support: 2
Contexts of Use
- Islam and the Human Being: He makes it a principle for repairing the effect of a bad deed in this world through good conduct after an apology.
- Concept: Good conduct
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “And if we can follow the apology with good conduct toward him, that is better, because God Almighty says: { … Indeed, good deeds do away with bad deeds … } (Hud 114).”
- Islam and Faith, p. 107: He uses it to affirm that practical good conduct erases and repairs the effects of a bad deed.
- Concept: Erasure of bad deeds
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “{ … Indeed, good deeds do away with bad deeds; that is a reminder for those who remember } (Hud 114).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.